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Hello,

I am having a tough time to establish when and where this Tray was made. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It was handed down to me and has been in the family for at least a hundred years. I think the markings are telling me that it is either really old silver plate because there are no initials and only a symbol, or a newer replica. I also am gathering that it was made in London. As you can see it has two sets of markings which from what I have read on this site was discontinued around 1700. Love to hear your thoughts!

Hi Ned2 welcome to the forum.

Silver plated/nickel-silver tray?
Those are really a nice bunch of pseudo marks; pseudo Lion Passant or sterling mark, the Leopards head crowned; pseudo standard/London town mark and a pseudo lion’s head erased.
The star mark with the letter c in the middle could be a maker’s mark. Around 1897 the use of a crown in a cartouche on British silver-plate was banned.
Indeed, if British silver plate, I believe it to be early and made around 1842-1897 but the tray could also been made out of nickel-silver and not silver-plated at all, hence the pseudo (fake) marks to deceive the ignorant buyer. The provenance is known to you and might give more relevant information about the tray.
However let us wait on other opinions before drawing any conclusions.

Oel.

Hi,

I think that mark is still yet to be identified. It is sometimes to be found with this 'CS' mark:





Trev.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the information. I really don't know a lot about the tray other than it was handed down from a pretty wealthy estate from family, that said I know of a lot of junk is passed along from wedding gifts etc in estate auctions.

I am going to check with a local Silver collector to see what they say as well. I will let you know what I find out.

Also, the Star does not have a C in it, that was a reflection. Trev, thanks for the info on the mark.

Let you know what I find,

Ned

I have this same mark on a silver claw footed box. Also has a Lion head in the middle on top for decoration. A star in a box- C- the crown in the cartouche symbol- S and a star in a box. I keep trying to upload a photo and cant.Did we find out what it is? and any idea how to upload this photo?

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Please start a new topic with images of the item and marks.

The below should help you:

How to Add Images

Posting Requirements

Embedded images get a far greater response than just posting links.

Remember to use the 'Preview' button before submitting your post.

Trev.

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naomy468 wrote:

Hi Naomy468,
Did you ever figure this one out? I have a Coffee pot and covered sugar bowl with the C S marks. At one point someone said the accepted company was Continental Silver out of Brooklyn, but I'm having serious doubts.

My coffee pot has a Phoenix, C symbol S (like yours) and Left facing rampant lion. The sugar bowl has same plus a star in a box.

I've spent hours researching. Anyone out there? Please help.
Erica

Hi Erica,

Welcome to the Forum.

If you read this topic from a couple of years ago: http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=41910

You will see that my thoughts have shifted to the Crown Silver Co.

Trev.

Something else to consider...two marks at Sterling Flatware Fashions. Both are related by the word "Continental" stamped in block letters. One is definitely Continental Silver Company, while the other uses the Gothic CS. This implies Continental used the Gothic letters, whereas there is no clear evidence that the other company ever did. Also, we know that Continental's star is enclosed in a box, while the other is not. Putting this together with Trev's trail of related marks, and having no available evidence for the alternate source, the conclusion would logically weigh in favor of Continental. (Don't ask me to explain what the Continental Manufacturing marks on SFF are about..I'm just as confused as everyone else might be.) Here is a link to the marks: http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com ... /SPC1.html

I stand corrected. SFF is showing an additional mark for Crown Silver with gothic letters and crude stars in boxes (I'm trusting they did have proof of the source as being Crown). Seems to switch the argument back in favor of Crown as Trev suggests.